Hot housing market frees up cash for home improvements

March 26, 2021 11:38 am Leave a comment

A "sold" signs sit on a lot as new home construction continues in a new neighborhood in Northbrook, Illinois, on March 21. Homes gained $26,300 in equity in the last three months of 2020 versus a year earlier. That average gain is the highest since 2013. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)

The red-hot U.S. housing market is paying off for many homeowners, even those who aren't looking to sell their home.

Tagged with: home sales housing market

Milwaukee area posts highest-ever home sales in 2020

January 15, 2021 3:20 pm Leave a comment

A for-sale sign stands before a house in Milwaukee in November 2012. The Greater Milwaukee Association of Realtors recently reported that 22,445 houses were sold in Milwaukee, Waukesha, Ozaukee and Washington counties in 2020. That was the highest annual total ever recorded for the region. (File photo by Kevin Harnack)

The Milwaukee area ended 2020 with its best year ever for home sales, a feat brought-on by the pandemic.

Tagged with: Greater Milwaukee Association of Realtors home sales Residential Construction

US home sales spike 24.7% in July, another record

August 21, 2020 9:50 am Leave a comment

A sale-pending sign stands outside a house in Mount Lebanon, Pennsylvania on April 27. The coronavirus pandemic helped shape the housing market by influencing everything from the direction of mortgage rates to the inventory of homes on the market to the types of homes in demand and the desired locations. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar, File)

U.S. home sales rose an unprecedented 24.7% in July, extending a rebound in June after the coronavirus pandemic all but froze the housing market this spring.

Tagged with: coronavirus home sales Residential Construction

Wisconsin’s real estate market picked back up in July with record home sales

August 20, 2020 3:21 pm Leave a comment

The real estate market picked back up in July after months of slumping sales because of the coronavirus pandemic, as Wisconsin recorded a record number of sales of existing homes last month.

Tagged with: home sales Residential Construction Wisconsin Realtors Association

US house prices increase 4% in April

June 30, 2020 9:26 am Leave a comment

A sign stands in front of a newly built house in Westwood, Massachusetts, on Sep. 3, 2019. U.S. home prices rose in April for the eighth straight month, even as sales stumbled, a sign that the coronavirus outbreak has had little effect on real estate values. (AP Photo/Steven Senne, File)

U.S. home prices gains accelerated in April even as sales have stumbled, a sign the coronavirus outbreak has had little effect on real estate values.

Tagged with: home sales Residential Construction

Homebuilders’ shares climb even as housing outlook remains cloudy

May 21, 2020 3:16 pm Leave a comment

In this March 18, 2020 photo, Construction continues at a housing plan in Zelienople, Pa., The housing market has stalled, but homebuilder stocks are up sharply amid signs that sales are starting to improve. Still, the outlook for a housing market recovery remains cloudy, given uncertainty over the pandemic's impact. (AP Photo/Keith Srakocic)

The U.S. economy and housing market had set homebuilders up for a strong 2020. That was before the efforts to stem the spread of the coronavirus pandemic knocked the economy into a skid, dimmed consumer confidence and left a record number of Americans unemployed.

Tagged with: home sales Residential Construction

US home sales jumped to 13-year high before viral outbreak

March 20, 2020 9:28 am Leave a comment

Model homes and for sale signs line the streets of Zelienople, Pennsylvania, on, Wednesday. U.S. home sales jumped in February to their highest level in 13 years, a trend that will almost certainly be reversed as the viral outbreak keeps more people at home. (AP Photo/Keith Srakocic)

U.S. home sales jumped in February to their highest level in 13 years, a trend that will almost certainly be reversed as people stop showing their property out of fear of infection in the coronavirus outbreak.

Tagged with: home sales